S1:P2 - Tour of the toolbox
An object-by-object tour of the tools I use to maintain and enjoy my fountain pen hobby. Welcome, friends, to a tour of my stationery toolbox. — Season 1, Post 2
There is no getting around it: maintaining and caring for fountain pens takes time. More time than grabbing the nearest rollerball or ballpoint. Fountain pens, for me, add a meaningful personalized element to my writing, planning, and scribbling.
Caring for my pens is a meditative release from the stresses of the day. It’s a time to unwind, usually with tea. Pen maintenance has become part of my self-care routine. I prefer them because they are persnickety.
Here is a tour of my zen and the art of pen maintenance toolbox.
Stickers make most things better
Cleaning
Syringes. The cornerstones of my pen-care regimen are the bulb syringe and blunt needle syringe. A bulb syringe is wonderful for flushing the feed and nib of a pen. A blunt needle syringe is great for flushing ink chambers and, of course, for filling pens with ink.
You can get these cheaply from most pen shops – and even more cheaply from non-pen convenience shops.
Cotton swabs. A small handful of these will go a long way. They’re useful for wicking ink out of pen caps. They’re also great for swabbing inks: dip and rub on a piece of paper.
Toothbrush. The advent of shimmer inks (ink with tiny bits of glitter in the solution) produced a novel cleaning issue: the glitter tends to stick around in your pen’s feed, even after flushing with water. A gentle scrub with a dedicated toothbrush can go a long way towards a less glitter-fabulous feed.
Soft shims. Fountain pens can accumulate paper fibers between the tines as you write. After a while, these fibers change the way your pen writes. In challenging cases, your pen can even clog up.
I use these metal sheets to floss between the tines of my pen nibs. They’re pliable and so won’t damage the inside of the tines or the ink channel on a pen’s feed. And they’re “free” as I cut them out of the security tags that come stuck to the inside of movie cases.
Silicone grease & talc powder. These are true extras. Refreshing the lubrication on the piston mechanism in converters and pens can help them turn more smoothly. Re-greasing a piston is rarely necessary. I’ll do so on aging converters and the odd TWSBI from time to time, mostly for the fun of it.
Spares and replacements
Nibs and converters. My spare nibs have a dedicated compartment in the toolbox. I like knowing where everything is. More so, I like having only one place to search for nibs to swap into my currently inked pens.
TWSBI and Pelikan make their nibs easily swappable, as do Jowo and Bock-based makers like Franklin-Christoph and Karas Kustoms. For other pen makers, more expertise may be needed.
Empty sample vials. I often bring my toolbox to pen meetups. It’s nice to offer friends an empty vial as inks are shared and shown off. I like when folks can leave with a few ml of the inks they fell “in want” with. And the other way around.
Tweaks and repairs — for the strong of heart
Loupe. An absolute must for any nib tuning or repairs. Think of a loupe as a magnifying glass you can use to see tiny details on your pen’s nib. Chances are good that if a nib is writing scratchy, you’ll be able to see the cause through a loupe.
I use mine to inspect the nib of every new pen I buy. A loupe is also an excellent way to check your progress while gently tuning a nib. Recently, I have started using my loupe during my ongoing forays into nib grinding.
Grip strip. Sometimes you need to remove a nib: clogged feed, cleaning a feed well before inking a bright color, or simply swapping friction-fit nibs. A “sticky” cloth or strip holds the nib/feed for you so there’s no need to squeeze or twist. Squeezing and twisting can damage your pen.
You can buy one or find one. I have both a repurposed carpet liner and a paid-for rubber strip from a pen shop.
Mesh Pads. Smoothing a nib is a careful, methodical process of writing on a fine mesh pad, checking with your loop, scribbling on paper, and repeating. Doing so while protecting your line width takes practice; and less is more when smoothing your pens.
Only use a mesh pad if you’re comfortable possibly ruining your pen. Doing so may also void some manufacturer warranties.
Nib block & burnisher. For repairing bent nibs. My skill at this is still aspirational. Busting inexpensive nibs and repairing them into writing shape is a fun way to spend an evening.
Tinkering is cool. But be warned: doing so violates just about any manufacturer warranty. Only try repairs on pens you’re comfortable destroying beyond what a professional nibsmith can fix.
Your toolbox should suit you
I like that my toolbox features removable dividers. I can change the sizes of the internal compartments.
My toolbox suits how I approach pen care — which is, admittedly, a tinkerer’s mentality. Most hobbyists will never need a nib block or talc powder. Hygiene is part of what makes stationery fun — for me.
Your own toolbox will grow to support how you live with your writing instruments.
Hopefully this tour gives you an idea of the many, often creative, maintenance tools folks can get into.
Tinker on.
